Chandigarh, December 13
Former National Commission for Women and BJP leader Rekha Sharma was announced unopposed in the Rajya Sabha by-election from Haryana today. The announcement was made after the deadline for withdrawing nominations for the Rajya Sabha by-election ended at 3 pm today. Sharma had filed his nomination papers from Haryana on Tuesday for the by-election. He was the only candidate in the fray. The BJP had on Monday announced Sharma’s name for the December 20 Rajya Sabha by-election.
Rekha Sharma, who arrived with Haryana Minister Mahipal Dhanda and former Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Gyan Chand Gupta, was given a certificate by the Returning Officer after she was elected unopposed. The opposition party had not fielded any candidate for the Rajya Sabha by-election.
In Haryana’s 90-member Legislative Assembly, the BJP has 48 members and has a majority, while the Congress has 37, the INLO has two and three independents. On the other hand, the Naib Singh Saini government also has the support of independent members. The seat fell vacant in the upper house of Parliament after BJP’s Krishna Lal Panwar resigned from the Rajya Sabha after winning the assembly elections in October. Panwar is now the Development and Panchayat Minister in the BJP government of Haryana. -News-Patiala